tortoise shell a bit sunken and minor pyramiding

RecklessCyanide

Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2015
Messages
48
Location (City and/or State)
Montreal
hey guys, i recently found out that some of my sulcata's scute are sunken. you can see from the pics, the edges of each scute are very obvious, and they are higher than the surrounding. It looks like it forms divider from scute to scute. i don't know what causes it. There are a few reasons I've thought about; 1. low humidity (mine is about 20%-30%, it's really hard for me to raise the humidity in the tank) 2. haven't given out carbon and vitamin supplement for a long time (about half of a year) 3. not enough sunlight. (live in canada really sucks...especially in winter,can't take them out for natural sunlight, so the UVB light might be inadequate)

I'd like to know if anyone here has similar experience as mine? or if anybody knows what's causing it, please let me know, much appreciated.

IMG_0895.JPG IMG_0896.JPG IMG_0897.JPG
 

saginawhxc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Messages
897
Location (City and/or State)
Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Its a common issue in tortoises raised in environments that are too dry.

The pyramiding itself isn't exactly horrible, but it is indicative as to how much moisture they had access to growing up. Moderate to severe cases can cause health problems because of the pressure the shell puts on internal organs. I do not think yours is to that point though.

With a few changes you should be able to improve the quality of future growth.

Here is a great thread that talks about it and how to raise them in a way that avoids this.

Raising a healthy sulcata or leopard
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/79895/
 

bolim04

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
50
Hello
That is very normal. The sulcatas with a darker shell tend to have little pyramidal growing. And the whiter more flat.

This is no problem and i saw this very often. I have 5 an some tend to have pyramidal geowing and the others not. I show you pictures above
Look athe the darker ones. The more flat one is from a friend who writes books about tortoises. And he told this also.

Regards from Luxembourg/Europe



ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1490213583.390588.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1490213619.904708.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1490213638.841160.jpg
 

New Posts

Top